The unit, installed in the hospital last year, was meant for a sophisticated diagnosis of patients with a variety of ailments. However, sometime between May 1 to 9, when the unit was out of order, some unknown persons pressed an emergency switch which caused a leak of three thousand litres of helium gas. The unit could be started only after the gas was refilled by the company.

A complaint was lodged at JJ Marg police station, which in turn asked the hospital administration to give expert opinion on the matter before any action could be taken. Following this, an inquiry committee was set up to investigate the circumstances under which the leak took place, sources said. The inquiry committee's report was submitted to the hospital administration last Thursday and is currently being studied by senior officials.

Thereport has said that part of the blame lies with Siemens, the company which installed the unit, since it did not inform the hospital in time of the function of the switch, sources said. The letter from the company informing about the switch came much after the unit was set up, when the switch had already been fixed at an easily accessible spot.

The hospital has also been found responsible since it did not take necessary precautions in securing the switch in a box, so that visitors and outsiders did not have access to it, the report said. It was only after the incident that the switch was shifted to another place and protected in a box with a lock and key, sources said.

Though the inquiry has not been able to pinpoint who pressed the switch, it has suggested that action be taken against the two resident doctors who had come to the MRI unit on that particular night for doing the procedure on a patient. The two doctors had not got the necessary instructions from their seniors to do the procedure on such anemergency basis, sources said.

A senior doctor from the MRI centre said they have written to the government that till proper safety measures are taken, the department will do the procedure on a limited number of patients. These measures include proper maintenance of the air conditioning plant, trained manpower, and complete instructions about the functioning of the unit. At the moment, the staff is learning on its own, and this becomes risky when costly equipment is involved, sources said.

A senior official at the hospital confirmed that suitable action will be taken after studying the report's findings and recommendations.